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New liquor store to open October 31

Four trucks bearing the four segments of Kamsack’s new liquor store arrived Monday morning in time for it to be set onto its concrete footing, assembled and ready for opening on October 31.
Liquor store
Chester Olson, left, and Robert Ritchie are the co-owners of the new Kamsack Liquor Store. The partners were photographed at the site Monday morning as they waited for the arrival of the trucks that hauled the building in four segments from Calgary to Kamsack.

                        Four trucks bearing the four segments of Kamsack’s new liquor store arrived Monday morning in time for it to be set onto its concrete footing, assembled and ready for opening on October 31.

            The segments of the building were constructed in Calgary and when assembled they will become a completed building, including floors, roof and electrical components, Chester Olson of Kamsack said as he waited on site for their arrival.

Shelving and coolers will have to be installed before the building is stocked and contractors will only have to do some exterior brick work, Olson explained.

For the Kamsack Liquor Store, Olson’s company, GCO Investments Ltd., is in partnership with Ritchie Industries, a company owned by Robert Ritchie of Kamsack.

New liquor store larger than government outlet includes retail space, warehouse and drive through lane

Reminiscing as he waited for the arrival of the building on Queen Elizabeth Boulevard immediately west of the Petro-Canada service station, Olson said that his first job had been at the government liquor store in Kamsack where he had worked from 1968 to 1972.

            At 4,500 square feet, the building is somewhat larger than the existing government liquor store, Ritchie said. The building includes a retail space of 2,500 square feet, a warehouse of 2,000 square feet and a drive-through lane.

            “We will be offering all lines of liquors and the selection will be increased by about 25 per cent from what has been available,” Ritchie said.

            The full retail area will be carrying a selection of ancillary items, including tobacco products, potato chips, soda pop and other food items that go together for a social outing, he said, explaining that about a quarter of the retail space will be devoted to these products.

            Olson’s daughter Chelsey, who has worked for eight years at the Kamsack Liquor Store, has been hired as the manager of the new facility, while her sister Corinne, who had worked for 10 years at Cottenie and Gardner Agency and is a real estate agent and broker, is the business’s operations manager.

“We expect to have a staff of seven to begin with,” Olson said. The business will be open seven days a week and will remain open to 10 p.m. most nights and to 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.